Were there any serious requests for Mary's hand in marriage after her father repudiated Catherine of Aragon and declared their daughter illigitimate? I know Henry and later Edward's Council would have rejected most, if not all, unless it served their own interests: and Mary herself would never have considered marriage with a "heretic," but did any serious offers come before she became Queen?
3 comments:
I hate to see a question unanswered. One issue to remember - all royal marriage offers were part of foreign policy. The seriousness of an offer was dependent on the seriousness of the foreign policy. I am not an expert in England's foreign policy before 1554 however...there were offers.
I've just done a cursory look through the Calendar of State Papers (available on the Internet Archive) and found a couple of references that indicate that Mary was still considered a valuable matrimonial chess piece.
In 1548, there was discussion of Mary wedding the Duke of Ferrara's son. (CSP-Foreign, Edward VI, p. 17)
In 1549, there was discussion of her marrying the heir to the Portuguese thrown. (see p.36) William Paget was sent to Emperor Charles V as an envoy to discuss this among other issues.
In 1550, Albert Marquis of Brandenburg proposed marrying Princess Mary as part of a deal to also offer to raise troops for Edward. (p.60)
In 1551, she was also considered a potential bride for the king of Poland. (p.120)
I am sure there are more and would suggest that you find a copy of Anna Whitelock's book on Mary Tudor for more information.
Of course I meant throne not thrown....aarggh. The perils of posting when tired.
kb - I had to laugh.... One, because I've done the exact same thing, and two, because of the mental image!
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